ITALY leaving the European Union would bring catastrophic consequences to the whole bloc and could spark “infinite” knock-on effects across the world, an economic expert warned.

Rome leaving the bloc would create consequences even more devastating than Brexit for the EU, as it would lead to major disruptions within the eurozone, according to Alessio Terzi, an economic expert at Brugel, an independent Brussels-based economic think-tank.

Mr Terzi, an economic expert at thinktank Brugel, said: “The first thing to clarify is that for Italy the exit from the EU would also imply an exit from the euro, which is not true in the case of Brexit.

“It is impossible to quantify the exact impact because the knock-on effects would be infinite.

“A sudden exit from the euro would lead to a sovereign default of dimensions never seen before in history, which would have heavy repercussions on the world financial system, on savings, on credit to companies, on wages, inflation and so on.”

And the catastrophic consequences of a so-called Italexit would not only be financial.

According to Mr Terzi, if Italy, one of the Union's founding members, left, it would crush the soul of the EU.

He said: “The most serious cost would be towards the spirit of the Union.

“The EU is like a family of countries and in all families there can be clashes, but there are some fundamental points on which everyone must agree and the ‘pacta servanda sunt' is one of them.”

Lega leader Matteo Salvini is a fierce eurosceptic (Image: GETTY)

Italy's new populist government has been pushing for a dramatic change in Brussels in the last months.

The Lega-Five Star Movement coalition vowed to adopt measures that would put the Italian interests before the EU, even if they meant breaching the bloc’s agreements.

The confrontation between Rome and Brussels blowed up in more than one occasion recently.

In June, Italy’s interior minister Matteo Salvini sparked outrage across the continent for impeding a rescue ship carrying migrants to dock, arguing it was time for other state members to share the burden of the immigration crisis.